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Lemon Vanilla Pound Cake

Another early morning and another day of watching a quiet world bestir itself into a hive of activity. I watch from afar, taking solace in my cold, quiet kitchen. I watch as sunlight slowly begins to pour into the room, and wait as the warmth of a heating oven robs the room of its dawn chill. The whir of a stand mixer fills the air, taking with it the still quietness that seemed to own the morning, mere moments ago.

I sneak a finger swipe of a taste from the bowl, deciding last minute to add another lemon’s worth of zest. I taste again. Perfection. I taste one more time just to be safe.

Then I sit at a small table, circled by tall windows, and I wait. Minutes pass as I watch a dim backyard come to life with the golden yellow glows of flickering sunlight, dancing through wind-tossed leaves, and tall blades of unkempt grass. I smile while watching a bird frolic about a bird bath, and a squirrel attempting the same with half as much grace and almost no coordination. I laugh.

A chime from my oven wakes me from my daydream. I slide a toothpick in and out of the tender cake, checking for just the right amount of sticky crumbs hanging on. It’s done. I carry it carefully to a counter and again I find myself waiting. By now the yard and the morning is a flood of light, golds and yellows now replaced with the bright, colorless white of daylight. The birds and squirrels are no where to be seen, likely hiding in spots of shade under big green canopies. I too would hide from the coming summer’s heat.

Steam no longer swirls above the floral vanilla and sweet lemony pound cake. It must be cool. I hastily slice into the dense crumb with a fork, barely getting it onto a plate. Before I know it, it’s gone, a delicious, fleeting taste of spring gone before I even knew it had arrived.

1. Preheat an oven to 375°F. Butter and flour a loaf pan, and set aside.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about five minutes.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract and mix in well.

4. Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) and set aside.

5. Mix together the wet ingredients (heavy cream, lemon zest and lemon juice) and set aside.

5. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Just blend in.

6. Add the cream and lemon mixture to the batter. Blend in well.

7. Add the reamining dry ingredients and blend in until the batter is even. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if need be.

8. Bake for in a preheated overn for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

9. Let the cake cool in the pan before serving.

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What is your favorite flavor pound cake?

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AUTHOR -
Russell van Kraayenburg

Founder of Chasing Delicious, and author of Haute Dogs, Russell's works have been featured in Southern Living, Men's Fitness, Redbook, TRADHome, and Real Simple magazines and on various sites including Lifehacker, Fast Co., Business Insider, The Kitchn, Live Originally, Quipsologies, Explore, and Fine Cooking.
Follow Russell on Twitter @rvank and Instagram. Get more delicious @chasedelicious.

Helen Kurusz

I am a critical cake eater, as I love my cakes! I was a little hesitant on this recipe as a few had mentioned the cupcakes turning out dry. But due to the EASE of recipe I thought it was worth a try. I measured my ingredients exactly, including weighting the eggs :-) I sifted the flour and used a whisk to beat the eggs then combined all liquid ingredients to eggs before adding combined liquid mixture to flour and sugar. They turned out delicious and were moist. I baked at 175c in a fan forced oven checking at 12mins. I baked two sizes, the mini cupcakes were ready at this time but the muffin size required 5 mins longer. Both had 5 mins cooling time in pan. I added 1.5 teaspoon of vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon for some added taste as other comments mention lack of flavour. I will makes these again, especially due to the ease of no electric beater.